Cygnar
Cygnar '''pronounced as ''SIG-nahr, ''officially known as '''The Kingdom of Cygnar is a country situated in Immoren, a continent in the world of Caen. With respect to the other Iron Kingdoms, Cygnar is the most centrally positioned. Along its northern border, it touches Ord, Khador, and Llael, while it is bound in the east by the Bloodstone Marches. The nation's western coast lies along The Sea of a Thousand Souls and The Broken Coast. Once a province of Cygnar in the southeast of the kingdom, the Protectorate of Menoth has renounced Cygnaran rule and proclaimed itself independent.Warmachine Prime MK2 History History of Cygnar goes far beyond the times of the Orgoth invasions. The capital city of Caspia, the City of Walls, was once known as Calacia and stood thousands of years ago as the center of Menite civilization against the Molgur barbarians. Caspia stood against the Orgoth invasions and was the place where the first Colossals where built to push back the invaders. Founding of Cygnar In 202 AR the Corvis Treaties were signed establishing the modern Kingdom of Cygnar, a nation stretching from the Thornwood and the Dragon’s Tongue River in the north to the Broken Coast and the Gulf of Caspia in the south. This new kingdom encompassed fertile farmlands in the northwest and east but also hundreds of miles of trackless wilderness, including the vast Wyrmwall Mountains, the Gnarls, and the Thornwood Forest. During this time Cygnar enjoyed a golden era of peace and prosperity. Colossal Wars and Trollkin Uprisings However this peace did not last long, despite being newly established nations the people of Khador and Cygnar had been bitter enemies since the wars of the old Khardic Empire. Cygnar's fourth king Woldred the Diligent, was immediately hurled into war upon the death of his father, King Benewic II in the Colossal War against Khador, whose severed head was paraded before the horrified Cygnaran lines. During the first year of his reign, Woldred led a coalition including Ord and Llael to end the Khadoran invasions. Khador was decisively defeated and was forced to accept the harsh terms of the Disarmament Conferences of 257 AR, which included the dismantling of the north’s mighty constructs and the establishment of the Colossal Guard. This significantly hindered Khador’s capabilities to wage war and allowed for four decades of peace. In 286 AR Woldred would voluntarily give up Cygnar’s colossals as well when a series of skirmishes with trollkin populations in the interior demonstrated the inherent vulnerabilities of these hulking machines. With the extreme costs of maintaining the great machines, the Colossal Guard proved unsustainable, leading to the birth of the first warjacks, smaller yet equally formidable constructs that could better negotiate the hazards of the battlefield and fight alongside infantry and cavalry. Woldred’s last act was the establishment of “Woldred’s Covenant”, which stated that each king could abdicate the throne on his own terms and choose his successor to avoid “kin of bad quality.” Primogeniture would apply only if other terms were not provided. The Temple of Menoth which had clung tenaciously to its standing as the state religion despite dwindling numbers—supported the contract only under the condition that their priesthood retained the exclusive right to witness and notarize each king’s terms. Though the Morrowan faith was already dominant among the wider population, Menites remained a major power in Cygnar’s capital. When Woldred died unexpectedly in 289 AR, his terms of succession could not be found, despite Menite priests insisting they had been drafted. Within a fortnight his nephew Malagant had seized the palace with a force of five hundred soldiers and claimed the throne. When the Temple of Menoth refuted Malagant’s right to rule, Malagant ordered over two hundred Menite priests to be arrested and hung, earning him the epithet Malagant the Grim. In 293 AR, Malagant declared the Church of Morrow as Cygnar’s official religion and dissolved all Menite authority within the government with strong public support.The growing strife had consequences abroad, Khador’s Queen Cherize initiated a border war with Cygnar in 293 AR that lasted until the queen’s sudden disappearance two years later. King Malagant died shortly thereafter. Ill omens and superstitious rumors surrounded the loss of both sovereigns Queen Ayn Vanar V, a girl of just five winters, was crowned in Khador. Too young to rule, she was represented by Lord Regent Velibor, who initiated an aggressive campaign to expand Khador’s borders and reclaim territories once held by the Khardic Empire. Under his guidance, Khador deflected an army of barbarians from his borders to those of the nation of Ord, intending to weaken its defenses before sending in the Khadoran Army. Intending to dispatch his own forces to follow in the wake of the barbarians and fall upon the weakened armies that stood against them, Velibor hoped such tactics would allow him to reclaim territories once held by the Khardic Empire, including swaths of northern Cygnar. However this failed due to the actions of Captain Markus Graza, an Ordic champion of Morrow who single-handedly turned the tide and humbled the northern barbarian chieftains.In the wars that followed Khador enjoyed some minor successes against Ord, most importantly claiming the Ordic city now known as Port Vladovar. Even these events did not unite Khador’s enemies. Llael and Cygnar sealed a formal alliance after the border wars, but Ord remained neutral, believing Khador had seized enough to satisfy its hunger for expansion. First Cygnaran Civil War For the next hundred and fifty years, Cygnar faced an ever-rising tide of religious animosity and many died in in these various clashes. However these were nothing compared to the rift that would tear Caspia in half starting in 483 AR. Their charismatic and vocal leader, Visgoth Sulon, called for all Cygnaran Menites to rally to him. Tens of thousands of Menites made the trek, coming from all corners of the kingdom to Caspia's eastern city portion across the Black River which had been a haven for the Menite minority. As the masses gathered, Sulon proclaimed himself hierarch of the faith and seized control of the portion of Caspia that lay east of the river, pushing out any non-Menites who lingered. Believing a riot was imminent but unaware of the organized and incensed nature of the Menites, the Caspian city watch tried to disperse the crowds and thousands of pilgrims rose against the Cygnaran militia and slew over three hundred guards in a frenzied revolt igniting the First Cygnaran Civil War, which raged from 482–484 AR. Zealous Menites nearly razed the river districts on the west bank of the City of Walls in the extensive fighting and the fate of the capital might have been sealed if not for the timely fall of Sulon. His death dealt a great blow to the morale of Menites and opened the doors to negotiations. High Prelate Shevann, head of the Morrowan Church treasury and a woman of spotless reputation, stepped forward. Serving as spokeswoman for King Bolton Grey V, she entreated Sulon’s successor, Visgoth Ozeall, for an end to the violence. After protracted discussions that elicited concessions on both sides, the Protectorate of Menoth was created as a means of ending the religious strife.The Menites were ceded land east of the Black River and the entirety of eastern Caspia, which they renamed Sul in honor of Hierarch Sulon. The Protectorate was allowed to govern their people without interference by the Cygnaran throne, with the understanding that they were still nominally part of Cygnar and subject to disarmament and taxation. Raelthorne Era King Grigor Malfast who was crowned in 489 AR, five years after the end of the civil war, led the nation into an era of growth. The once depleted Cygnaran coffers filled with coin and Steamjacks became more common. Archduke Vinter Raelthorne II, Malfast’s most trusted vassal was instrumental in transforming the king’s grand schemes into reality. The Raelthorne bloodline was already inextricably woven into the Cygnaran court. The first Vinter Raelthorne had been a king decades before and their bloodline even traced back to ancient kings of Caspia and Calacia. However the Khadoran King Ruslan Vygor was also setting his sites upon Cygnar.He gathered the largest war host yet seen in the north and executed a wild scheme. In late 510 AR, he sent a portion of this force, including the bulk of the renowned Khadoran cavalry to the borders of Llael. Cygnar’s king sent warjacks and riflemen led by Vinter II north to beat back the impending invasion not knowing it was only a ruse. King Vygor personally led an even larger force of warjacks and the full might of Khador’s heavy infantry into the forest, driving south to take undefended key Cygnaran territories. His army chopped straight through the Thornwood, razing a path two hundred miles long that later came to be called the “Warjack Road.” However scouts from Fellig discovered this secondary force. Soldiers were hastily gathered from Corvis, Point Bourne, and Rivercleft. The force met the Khadorans at the Dragon’s Tongue even as the main army previously rushing to aid Llael turned back in a desperate forced march to intercept the Khadoran advance. The Battle of the Tongue, in early 511 AR became one of the bloodiest clashes in Cygnaran history. The Thornwood War lasted for four months and ended with Vygor’s demise on the blade of Vinter Raelthorne II but It took decades to replace and repair the warjacks destroyed during the battle. A few short years later, King Malfast fell ill. He handed his crown to Archduke Vinter Raelthorne II under the Woldred’s Covenant in his deathbed .Thus in 515 AR, Cygnar entered the Raelthorne Era, Vinter II ruled with prudence, valuing the utilitarian over the frivolous. Typically found deep in thought over matters of state, he was called the Stone-Faced King. He survived two assassination attempts and developed a reputation as both an opponent of unregulated sorcery and a man suspicious of leaders who relied on religious sentiment over common sense. In 539 AR the crown passed to his son, the stern Vinter Raelthorne III, who filled the kingdom’s coffers through burdensome taxes and used the money to secure the western sea lanes rife with pirate vessels by bolstering the navy and funding privateers. Despite his successes against raiders along the Broken Coast, many people hated him for his rigid demands and he earned the name the Stoneheart. He claimed to be surrounded by self-interested bureaucrats and concluded he could trust no one, and he had no use for priests, whether Menite or Morrowan. He had debtors toil to work off what they owed rather than waste away in prison. Many died, but the kingdom prospered. When Vinter III died suddenly in 576 AR, the kingdom fell to his elder son, Vinter IV, since no other instructions were found. Vinter IV was paranoid and tyrannical, a king of dark demeanor and a violent temper. His father and grandfather had been suspicious of religion, but Vinter IV had an illogical hatred of the Church of Morrow. Vinter IV suspected enemies everywhere and transformed his father’s discreet network of spies into a merciless system of judges and executioners that became known as the Inquisition, and with their assistance Vinter ruled by terror and murder. His opponents disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. The targets of the Inquisition were alleged witches and sorcerers accused of practicing fell magic and consorting with dark powers. However most of those targeted and convicted were innocent of any crime. During King Vinter’s reign Cygnar was battered by a series of coastal assaults known as the Scharde Invasions. From 584–588 AR, Cryxian blackships emerged from the mists, raiding, slaughter and pillaging unsuspecting villages and towns. Graves were despoiled and slain soldiers were dragged away to feed the industries of the Nightmare Empire. Counterstrikes against the Scharde Islands resulted in great losses. During these battles tales of King Vinter “the Elder” Raelthorne IV leading Cygnaran forces in battle and the valor of his brother Leto “the Younger” spread across Cygnar and were praised along the coast. Both brothers led armies in this war, and eventually the Cryxians were driven from Cygnaran shores. While such heroics made the people far more ready to accept the extreme measures by which King Vinter enforced the peace on the mainland for sometime ,over the years due to brutal treatment and harsh taxation praise of Vinter began to wane. As rumors of torture and barbarity at the hands of the Inquisition persisted, many began to doubt their king’s sanity. Unlike his father and brother, Leto had been a devout Morrowan. Primarch Arius, then the leader of the Church of Morrow was his mentor and spiritual advisor, and in his youth Leto had nearly entered the clergy. After the Scharde Invasions, Vinter named Leto his Warmaster General. When Leto’s strong convictions led him to remove his tyrant brother in the Lion’s Coup in the winter of 594 AR, he paved the way by carefully managing the army’s senior officers and taking the most pious into his confidence. These individuals were instrumental in the coup, which was led by prominent officers and royal guards who could no longer endure their sovereign’s orders. Vinter was cornered in the Castle Raelthorne but Vinter was an unparalleled swordsman and with the sword of his grandfather, the Kingslayer he cut down scores of Leto's men. In a final battle Leto and Vinter dueled, despite Leto's skill at the blade he could not match Vinter and was dealt a fatal blow. One moment Leto seemed defeated, but in the next he had disarmed his elder brother and his own injury had miraculously vanished. Some who witnessed this event said the arrival of Primarch Arius preceded this fateful moment. They claim the primarch served as a conduit for Morrow’s divine intervention by which the seemingly invincible tyrant was rendered helpless. Leto declared himself king and Vinter was imprisoned. However Vinter's allies in the Inquisition took Lady Danae Cresswell, Leto’s beloved wife hostage and demanded Vinter’s release. Leto agreed, but Vinter escaped with Lady Cresswell in an experimental airship at the top of the palace and drifted east over the Bloodstone Marches. Danae Cresswell was never seen again and a grief-stricken Leto was crowned king in a solemn ceremony before the Royal Assembly. That same assembly later conducted a trial for Vinter IV in absentia, stripping him of his titles for his crimes and reaffirming Leto the rightful heir of Vinter III. Soon the Inquisition was disbanded and in the years that followed the remaining agents of the Inquisition and all those who had committed crimes in the former king’s name were hunted down. Vinter’s supporters innocent of the most fiendish crimes were offered amnesty, this offer was also extended to many military officers found guilty of nothing more than obeying their king. However many loyal to King Vinter remained hidden, scheming to overthrow the usurper. Under King Leto Raelthorne the kingdom experienced almost ten years of growth, flourishing trade, and the harmony and efficiency seen as the hallmarks of a fair and just government. Leto fostered mechanikal innovation and advancement that brought his armies formidable new weapons. While he worked to better his people the dark clouds of war began to approach the kingdom. The first foreshadowing of what was to come arrived in 603 AR with an attack from an unexpected source. From across the Bloodstone Marches came a strange inhuman race called the skorne, bent on conquest and domination beginning with the northern city of Corvis. Witnesses identified Vinter Raelthorne IV leading them, and it became clear the former king had done the impossible: he had led an army across the impassable desert to strike at Cygnar. With new, cruel allies, he intended to seize back his throne, using Corvis as a staging point for a greater invasion. However his plans were thwarted when dead Cygnaran heroes rose up in defense of their nation, and the attackers were repelled. Between the escalation of Cryxian hostilities on the west coast and the Protectorate clearly preparing for war on their eastern border, Leto’s war council was ill prepared for Khador to hatch new plans of conquest. The northerners massed their full might against the small nation of Llael, counting on Cygnar to be too preoccupied by other potential threats to aid its longtime ally. The Khadoran Army penetrated Llael’s western border in days, and later attempts to shore up interior garrisons proved futile. Cygnar rushed to Llael’s defense and was quickly caught up in a series of increasingly desperate battles. With the collapse of Llael’s western defenses, the soldiers sent to the northern front proved insufficient to blunt Khador’s momentum. Through several months of fighting, the Khadorans pushed forward inexorably, seizing more and more territory. Soon they besieged Merywyn, the capital. Cygnarans fought bravely alongside their Llaelese allies but were forced to withdraw as Khador attacked the Thornwood, threatening to cut off vital Cygnaran supply lines and threatening the northern borders. After the Cygnarans withdrew, the Llaelese soon surrendered. To celebrate her great victory, Queen Ayn declared herself the first empress of a new Khadoran Empire.Iron Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy RPG Core Rules While Cygnaran soldiers were dying on foreign soil, the Protectorate of Menoth rose up in full defiance. They laid siege to the gates of Caspia and infiltrated the land with saboteurs. Hierarch Garrick Voyle called for a crusade against the Cygnaran people and sent his forces abroad, striking wherever the nation was most vulnerable. At the same time Cryx sent its forces to prey on the living. The Thornwood— Cygnar’s greatest natural barrier against Khador—became riddled with walking dead and foul necrotite-burning machines. Cryxian forces assaulted Highgate, intercepted trade from Mercir to Ceryl, and harassed coasted defenses, keeping the Cygnaran Army and Navy occupied. Only the careful planning of previous kings and Cygnar’s tremendous wartime reserves prevented an immediate disaster. Thanks to the foresight of Vinter II, Cygnar’s four armies were prepared to fight on separate fronts, and the vital railways served to hasten the movement of supplies, so long as the rails could be protected from saboteurs. Lord Commander Coleman Stryker was given special authority by King Leto to root out potential Menite insurgents hiding within the kingdom’s own communities. He set a number of former inquisitors on the trail of the Menites, whom he gathered into barges and sent to be imprisoned on Bloodshore Island. Several dramatic reversals occurred during the Caspia-Sul War that followed. First, Cygnaran forces led by Lord Commander Coleman Stryker breached the walls of Sul and initiated an invasion of the city, forcing the Sul-Menites to rally in defense of their most sacred holy sites. Religious fervor gave the enemy desperate strength, and a bitter year of street-to-street fighting followed. With Cygnar’s army unable to seize a quick victory, the Menites regrouped and repelled them. The situation then became dire when Cygnar’s Second Army was forced to make a hasty retreat back to Caspia. Hierarch Voyle led a massive crusade into Caspia to annihilate the capital. King Leto was grievously injured when he marched to rally the defenders and confront the enemy directly. It was not until the Menites were at the gates of Castle Raelthorne that the tide turned. Like Sulon in the Civil War, Hierarch Voyle was struck down by the defenders of the City of Walls. But this victory arrived only after Voyle had carved a path of destruction through the ancient capital. Caspia would need time to recover from this campaign, which had taken a heavy toll on Cygnar’s Second Army. Despite the slim victory in Caspia, Cryxian vessels continually battled the nation’s navy and raided the shores. After years of fighting trench-to- trench along the northern border, Khador toppled Northguard, a previously impregnable bastion. Khador then took the Thornwood, and its soldiers advanced to the gates of Corvis and Point Bourne along the Dragon’s Tongue River. The skorne returned to test the eastern border, and trollkin tribes in the interior rose up to seize lands and beset Cygnar’s railways and roads. Eventually Khador slowed its advances to consolidate its gains, amassing forces within the Thornwood and across the new border under a brief cease-fire. The Sul-Menites returned to their lands to mourn their fallen hierarch. Cygnar rebuilt what it could during this window of peace, bolstering its strength to hold off enemies that threatened every border. The military reallocated resources and recovered, but it rushed the construction of new defenses on the northern side of the river close to the Khadoran forces, leaving a concentration of Khadoran firepower able to reach vital cities like Point Bourne. Tensions boiled over early in 608 AR when a small strike force of Cygnarans attacked a Khadoran outpost being built in the Thornwood Forest north of Point Bourne. Hostilities bloomed into outright war around the city of Point Bourne and along the banks of the Dragon’s Tongue River. Khadoran infiltrators secured control of the city locks, forcing Cygnaran defenders into the military quarter. Without this rash attack and the proximity of the Khadorans, however, Cygnar would never have survived one of the greatest horrors ever perpetrated on a Cygnaran city. Capitalizing on the chaos of battle, Cryxian infiltrators on the mainland flooded into city, pushed the Khadorans back, and began the systematic slaughter and harvest of Cygnaran citizens. The full scope of the Cryxian threat eventually led to an unlikely and unauthorized alliance between high-ranking Cygnaran and Khadoran officers. Working together they purged Point Bourne, driving the undead legions back into the Thornwood, where they had built an immense necrofactorium. The allied forces underestimated Cryx’s strength, and the first strike at the necrofactorium failed when they encountered Cryxian colossals. Afterward, King Leto and Empress Ayn traveled to the region and formalized the alliance during a historic meeting in preparation of a second assault. King Leto was sincere in his desire to work against greater evils, but the scheming empress had no intention of preserving the alliance once they dealt with Cryx. Prior to the second assault on the Thornwood a small, elite Cygnaran force seized a mystically shielded vault from the Cryxians and sent it farther into Cygnar in order to secure and study its contents. On the way the vault was discovered to contain a dragon athanc—the heartstone of an unknown dragon—that the lich lords were delivering to Lord Toruk, their master. Before it could be properly secured, the athanc attracted a host of ancient dragons and Toruk himself, an event that had not been seen in sixteen centuries. They clashed over the skies of Cygnar, and Toruk slew at least one dragon before being driven off. Damage to the Cygnaran interior was considerable; the cities of Ironhead and Orven suffered the worst from this “Dragon War,” enduring considerable loss of life and destruction of property. In the aftermath, both dragonspawn attacks and reports of blighted ailments among the population increased across the region. While short-lived, the brief alliance between Khador and Cygnar to drive Cryx from the Thornwood was largely a success, demonstrating that mortals could contend with the undead seeking to eradicate them. The combined Cygnaran, Khadoran, and Protectorate forces managed to uproot the necrofactorium controlled by Lich Lord Asphyxious. The accord between them did not last beyond the declaration of victory, however, as the Khadorans demonstrated their perfidy by turning on Cygnar the moment Cryx was defeated. Second Cygnaran Civil War Taking advantage of the chaos in the aftermath of this conflict, Khador sought to cement its hold over the Thornwood. The Khadorans conducted punitive attacks against eastern Ord and launched a renewed invasion into Cygnar, hoping to use Stonebridge Castle as their gateway into its interior. This offensive was forestalled by an unexpected counterattack: Vinter Raelthorne IV, with the support of northern nobles and the Fourth Army, reclaimed the fortress demonstrating his prowess to the disgruntled northern nobles, including the Duke of Thuria and the Archduke of the Southern Midlunds, who had conspired against Leto and joined in this treacherous uprising.. This maneuver was part of Vinter’s opening bid to reclaim the throne and the beginning of the Second Cygnaran Civil War. Vinter’s conspirators seized control of many regions in the north, contested by those still loyal to Leto. It became difficult to discern who was on which side, and some nobles pursued old grudges against neighboring rivals. Disorganized skirmishes erupted throughout Cygnar, concentrated in the north. Vinter’s central army focused their efforts on cornering King Leto. With the aid of his Protectorate allies, Vinter pinned down his brother in Fharin, leading to the largest battle in the war. Leto’s position was tenuous, with only a small portion of his supporters able to reach him in time. The king’s men fought valiantly and employed exceptional tactics against the superior force, keeping Leto alive. Reign of King Julius Raelthorne Vinter’s victory was assured until the unexpected arrival of a third party—Vinter’s bastard heir Julius, at the head of a sizable mercenary army led by Asheth Magnus, an outcast Cygnaran warcaster and former military officer. Magnus had taken the boy under his wing years before, training him to be a leader. Magnus and Julius had amassed the mercenary army to be loyal to the king’s bastard. Under their joint command, the mercenaries tipped the balance of power away from Vinter and his loyalists. Vinter was defeated and slain during the battle and having lost their king, leaders of the Vinter loyalist army supported the claim of Vinter’s son. King Leto surprised all present when he embraced his nephew, declaring his claim legitimate and subsequently abdicated the throne and passed his crown to Julius, hoping to save the kingdom from years of potential strife. Most of those who had fought against Leto were pardoned in the interests of preserving the nation. Young King Julius Raelthorne remains untested, though both the people and the nobility are cautiously optimistic he is ready to face the challenges ahead. Crowned in the aftermath of a civil war and set at the head of one of the greatest nations in western Immoren, he is shrewd and intelligent, but he has shown a temper that worries some. The young king has shown political acumen, negotiating a treaty with Khador to bring Cygnar a much needed peace. It was the first of Julius’ victories as king but won't be the last. Geography Mostly rugged hills and very montainous in the central ragions (Wyrmwall); mostly flat or gently sloping along the Black River; high plains along the northwest and central banks; swamps along much of the coastal lowlands in the south and southwest. The climate is temperate in the north and central regions moderated by prevailing southwest winds with more than half the days overcast in the north. In the south the climate is sub-tropical to tropical with frequent showers. Government Cygnar has a monarchy led by a King similar to many other nations of the Iron Kingdoms, however notable distinctions exist. Current King is King Julius Raelthorne, bastard son of Vinter IV and supported by the Inner Circle and the Royal Assembly. The King possesses all the vast powers typically held by kingssuch as the ability to declare war, raise and command armies, negotiate treaties, make laws, and collect taxes. However the King is expected to obey certain laws and traditions regarding the mechanisms by which he can exercise his authority In some ways, Cygnar boasts the most progressive government in western Immoren—at least under the leadership of its current and previous king.Forces of Warmachine: Cygnar Command MK3 Cygnaran Nobility & the Royal Assembly Cygnar’s system of government is rooted in ancient traditions but includes checks and balances that promote stability. Though the king wields great power, in practice his actions require cooperation from the kingdom’s body of nobles, collectively known as the Royal Assembly.Nobility in Cygnar is organized in a system of ranks essential to the social and political fabric of the nation. The power to create nobles, to adjust the bounds of familial holdings, and to create new territories and divisions rests with the king. Cygnar is divided into duchies, provinces, and baronies. The largest territories, the duchies, are ruled by a duke or archduke, while provinces are ruled by earls, and the much smaller baronies are governed by barons. There exist other noble titles to signify familial relationships, but these are a matter of courtesy and carry no authority.Knights hold the lowest land-owning rank of peerage. They are vassals sworn to serve the nobles granting their lands to them. Knights are expected to be armed and capable liegemen, ready to answer their lord’s call to war. However the law limits the size and disposition of a noble’s household guard. Barons may retain only a small armed force to protect their lands while proportionately larger forces being allowed to earls and dukes. Barons, earls, and dukes can vote in the Royal Assembly, as can high chancellors and Cygnaran exarchs and vicars of the Church of Morrow. Others may be invited to speak but cannot vote. Wealthy merchants, military officers, and others often attend the Assembly to champion or oppose proposed laws. The Inner Council Initially instituted by King Leto in 595 AR as an advisory council but transitioning to a full war body in 603 AR, the Inner Council is the core of the government keeping the king informed about the state of the realm and to assist in his most vital decisions. During Julius’ reign the council underwent a return to its traditional role as a board of advisors for all aspects of governance, though it also discusses the nation’s military concerns. Duchies of Cygnar Cygnar is divided into nine duchies, several of which are further divided into provinces. Duchies are ruled by dukes or archdukes while provinces are ruled by earls. Provinces are further divided into baronies ruled by barons. These individuals play a major role in Cygnaran governance and each region has its distinct character and a role within the kingdom. The nobles governing each region have a significant impact on the lives of those living within their domains. While the king has ultimate authority, he has neither time nor inclination to scrutinize every barony and must rely on lesser nobles to work toward the common good, and for the politics between the nobles to serve as a check and balance against individual ambition. Many nobles also occupy key positions in the Cygnaran Army or Navy and are expected to defend the kingdom against threats both internal and external. Duchies of Cygnar are, * Duchy of Caspia * Duchy of the Eastern Midlunds * Duchy of the Northern Midlund * Duchy of the Southern Midlunds * Duchy of the Western Midlunds * Duchy of Northforest * Duchy of Southpoint * Duchy of Thuria In addition Cygnar controls several major Islands * Bloodshore Island * Cullenrock * Giant’s Head * Raelthorne Island Military Regarded as the technologically superior nation, Cygnar boasts many revolutionary innovations involving lightning and arcane power. The military thrives on speed and superior weaponry. Not being a bold and outright punch, the Cygnaran military is well versed at flanking, concentrated fire, and disabling opponents. Law Cygnar has three levels of lawmaking and two levels of courts that interpret the law. High laws are drafted by the king or the Royal Assembly and the laws drafted by the assembly require the king’s approval. Such decrees reach every corner of Cygnar and supersede the laws of individual duchies, provinces, and baronies. Violations of high laws are judged by high courts appointed by the king, or by the Royal Assembly with the king’s consent. Below high laws are common law and the local laws affecting fiefdoms or cities. Common law is based on the principle that people have certain rights as citizens and also emphasizes legal precedent with advocates and judges studying past decisions to use them to determine fair punishments. Authorities look to common law when no applicable specific local or high law exists. Both high and local laws overrule ancient precedents. Demographics Religion Cygnarans pride themselves on rationality and reason, but piety and morality are valued qualities and religion is pervasive across the realm. The Morrowan faith is dominant in Cygnar almost without exception, although there is considerable regional variance in worship. The worshipers of the Devourer Wurm largely keep to remote wilderness regions such as the Wyrmwall, the deep Thornwood, and the Gnarls. They do not seek to blend in with others and do not openly declare their allegiance anywhere it might prompt retaliation, since this faith is greatly feared and shunned. The Dhunian faith coexists considerably more easily alongside mankind. Nevertheless, shrines and statues to the goddess are common only among trollkin, ogrun, gobber, and bogrin populations. Although these are typically in wilderness locales, cities that host a significant number of these races may also see such shrines. Church of Morrow The center of the Church of Morrow is the Sancteum in Cygnar’s capital, and the reach and influence of the faith is extensive and unavoidable. It is the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful organization outside of the Cygnaran government.The Sancteum is a sovereign power. By ancient law and treaty it is allowed to raise its own armies and govern itself and its members by church law as long as its members heed Cygnaran law when away from church lands. Primarch Arius is the head of the church and governs with the aid of the Exordeum. Beneath the Exordeum in the hierarchy are vicars, who oversee their vicarates in councils of seven. Each vicarate is a vast region with its council seated in a major city, often in a large and impressive cathedral. Caspia, Ceryl, Fharin, and Mercir all host vicarate Councils in Cygnar. Individual vicars are also appointed elsewhere to cover gaps in support. All Morrow’s ascendants have a place in Cygnaran society, but some are more popular than others. Ascendant Gordenn is widely worshiped in every rural region and farming community. Ascendant Doleth has many shrines along Cygnar’s long coastline as well as large temples in major port cities. Ascendant Sambert is the patron of Caspia and the Sancteum itself. The martial trinity of Ascendants Katrena, Solovin, and Markus is popular among Cygnar’s soldiers. Ascendant Corben is a major figure in Ceryl, Caspia, and Fharin. Humble priests of Ascendant Rowan can be found in nearly every slum, and she has shrines in the poorest villages. Ascendant Angellia’s shrines and temples commonly appear near centers of higher learning, particularly in Corvis, Ceryl, and Caspia. Shrines to Ascendant Ellena dot the major roadways and can be found at way stops. Cygnar is also home to the Knightly Order of Precursors which fight alongside Cygnar’s Third Army but have recently seen service elsewhere, including fighting in the defense of Caspia against the invading Sul-Menites as well as joining the northern war front. Knights of the Prophet are also based in Cygnar and are allowed fight in defense of their homeland but have taken solemn oaths to protect and preserve the church itself and are mostly neutral in conflicts while the Primarch Knights are entirely devoted to the protection of the primarch as personal guards and by extension the Archcourt Cathedral and the Exordeum. The Order of Illumination a militant order of the Church that hunts downpractitioners of the dark arts of necromancy, infernalism, and mesmerism based in the Sancteum are legally empowered by the Cygnaran crown to execute any individual found guilty of practicing any the three dark arts. Although the Order is active outside of Cygnar they are less welcome in Khador and the Protectorate. Menite Faith Menites have worshiped in Cygnar since the earliest days of the Hold of Calacia, a point of pride to those few who remain. When Sulon's call gathered most of the kingdom's Menite families to join the Cygnaren Civil War, the number of adherents of this faith greatly diminished in Cygnar. The majority of the nation’s Menites formed the Protectorate of Menoth in 484 AR. Those who remained slowly flourished and continued to practice the religious rituals passed down to them from their ancestors. With a few exceptions menites are mostly found in the Western Midlunds and Westshore, few dedicated towns or villages were solely devoted to Menoth. Rather, the Menites formed their own slightly insular communities within larger Morrowan townships and cities. There is no organized or cohesive Temple of Menoth Cygnar. Rather, worshipers gather in small shrines and temples, usually overseen by a single dedicated priest. A number of scattered sects of Menoth based on ancient traditions still exist but none of these have a particularly large membership. The largest sect is the Children of Geth in northern Cygnar, whose members consider themselves part of a long line of worship dating back to the ancient sage-priest who went on an exodus from Icthier in the times after Cinot. Dozens of small villages in the Western Midlunds belong to this sect, and they attend several old temples in this region. However their numbers are quickly dwindling due to several recent events. First, there was the emergence of a prophet called the Harbinger of Menoth in 603 AR who was said to be so holy that her feet cannot touch the base earth, her eyes shrouded to rely solely on divine sight to see, and able to speak Menoth's will.While such reports were dismissed various tales of spread across Immoren. Soon thereafter, the Harbinger pronounced a great summons for Menites to join her in the Protectorate and learn of Menoth’s plans for Caen which resulted in thousands of menites across Immoren including Cygnar leaving to settle in the Protectorate. In 606 AR after Menite saboteurs had performed a number of treasonous acts, aided by Cygnaran citizens Lord Commander Stryker, with the assistance of men once bound to the Inquisition, was sent into the communities along the Black River to gather up all known Menites. Presence Sul-Menite agents hiding in these communities was confirmed and Lord Stryker swept up every Menite he could find, not feeling he had the luxury of time to be discriminating.Thousands of formerly loyal Cygnaran citizens were gathered up, placed on barges, and sent to Bloodshore Island to be held indefinitely. Although these people would eventually be released, most of those interned relocated to the Protectorate.This most recent exodus most affected the Menites living in eastern Cygnar, from the Northern Midlunds and Corvis, down through Fharin, King’s Vine, and the region around Caspia Menites elsewhere in Cygnar were largely unaffected they were shocked to hear of these actions and hundreds more were prompted to leave the kingdom despite King Leto assurances of safety and protection. Even far from the war increased tension and suspicion grows between Morrowans and Menites living in close proximity as stories of the Caspia-Sul wars spread. Cults of Cyriss The Cult of Cyriss has a variety of holdings in Cygnar, most secret and some known. The only entirely open and lawfully protected temple of this faith in Cygnar is the Temple of Concord in Caspia. This temple was erected after leaders of the cult entered into an arrangement with King Leto offering an exchange of significant technologies. Very few know precisely what was given to Cygnar as part of this arrangement. Cyriss worshipers can also worship openly without drawing suspicion in other enlightened facilities such as the Royal Observatory in southern Cygnar and among most major university campusesHidden temples are also thought to exist in most of the major Cygnaran cities as well as in the wilds, such as the Temple of the Incomplete Axiom concealed within the Widower’s Wood about seventy miles from Corvis. Most members of this cult are only casual worshipers with an interest in the goddess’ spheres of influence, and they are content to attend the nearest urban temple. Only the most dedicated and involved adherents, those accepted into the cult’s inner mysteries, are allowed or invited into its more important and remote facilities. Thamarite Cults It is difficult to gain any accurate gauge of their numbers and reach since Thamarites worship in secret, but without question cults to Thamar exist in every major urban center and in smaller numbers among rural populations as well. No cohesive organization connects these groups, although Thamarites are generally well disposed toward other Thamarites if their shared belief becomes known, assuming they are not otherwise competing or at cross purposes. Several large and organized septs of Thamar originated in Cygnar and might have members in other nations. The strongest arcane-oriented Thamarite septs have their origins in Ceryl, the very city that gave rise to modern wizardry. This includes both the Shroud, which is devoted to the study and practice of necromancy, and the Infernal Archive, which has accumulated an impressive library of otherwise-forbidden occult tomes and research related to infernalism. These groups share an interest in the preservation of knowledge and relics sacred to Thamarites, including possessions of Thamar as well as the scions and the writings of these same individuals. Caspia is also home to several far-reaching Thamarite cults.The scions each have their own following in Cygnar, with several being particularly popular among the criminal circles in major cities. Among the gangs of both Corvis and Fharin, a tattoo bearing the mark of Scion Khorva is seen as a brand of distinction for blooded enforcers. Scions Drayce and Bolis have considerable followings among those earning a living from vice, extortion, or the exchange of promises. Scion Nivara is secretly admired by ambitious arcanists of the realm and has a particularly strong following in Ceryl and Mercir. Similarly, a small but dangerous cult devoted to Scion Stacia thrives in the southern city of Mercir. Opportunists who prowl fresh battlefields in search of spoils pray to Scion Aidan in the hopes of increasing their fortunes. Ethnic Groups The people of Cygnar are the most sophisticated and cosmopolitan of western Immoren. Their society is far from homogeneous, however, and their nation is home to diverse groups, philosophies, and religions. Cygnar welcomes outsiders and has opened its arms to refugees fleeing Llael and other communities disrupted by war. However Khadorans and Menites are poorly trusted especially in regions where people have been threatened or invaded by Khador or the Protectorate of MenothIron Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy RPG: Kings, Nations, and Gods * 3.4 million Caspian * 2.7 million Midlunder * 1.2 million Thurian * 400,000 Morridane * 265,000 gobber * 242,000 trollkin * 180,000 Ryn * 135,000 bogrin * 120,000 Rhulfolk * 90,000 ogrun * 80,000 Tordoran * 20,000 Idrian * 18,000 Khard * 14,000 Umbrean * 12,000 Scharde * 1,000 Iosan * 300 Nyss Economy Cygnar emerged from the Corvis Treaties as the strongest and wealthiest nation of western Immoren with no lack of iron, gold, timber, food, gems, quarries or other coveted resources. In recent years wealth has flowed into the kingdom from its southern colonies, generated by explorers and adventurers who have ventured to other shores as ships from Cygnar’s ports sail over the horizon to new lands. Warmachine Prime MK3 References Category:Warmachine Category:Faction Category:Geography Category:Cygnar Category:Nations